"Lord, we do not understand, but we love you."

In all of the suffering we have faced personally and shared in the lives of others, I have not been able to improve upon Paul's prayer, "Lord, we do not understand, but we love you." It doesn't say more than I know or less than I believe. It is probably as far as I can go in this life in explaining tragedies.

I have lived long enough and seen enough to know that time is on our side in recovering. Living by faith in times of such deep hurt seems to me like holding onto a rope in the midst of an impenetrable fog. Even though holding on is all you can do, in time, some of the mists move away to reveal familiar landmarks that have kept us safe before. Fortunately, God has a good safety net that tolerates an awful lot of spiritual thrashing around....and the rope is gently placed in our hands again. .... I thank God that he is so patient with our limited understanding and seems to send just the friend or word I need in a timely fashion. I can't tell you how many times I have repeated St. Peter's words, uttered when Jesus' teaching was so hard to swallow and so many were leaving him, "Lord, to whom else can we go; you have the words of eternal life." Darned if I can figure out why he permits a world where sin and its consequences can hurt so many good people, but I can't find any other Saviour who will give me so much of Himself in facing that reality. I, too, can find no more to say than, "Lord, we do not understand, but we love you."
{Written by Paul Schoonmaker to a friend.}
Given to me by a friend who has recently seen her share of pain and suffering, I felt I needed to share it with ya'll, if it weren't for our friends and family and our faith this would be unbearable at times. God Bless Ya'll.